Paul Pierce on future: 'I still have something in the tank I can give a team'

Paul Pierce's first season with the Brooklyn Nets didn't end the way he hoped, with the team getting ousted from the postseason with a 96-94 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Pierce will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and at 36 years of age, he believes he still has one or two years left to give. Asked whether he'll remain a Net, Pierce had this to say, via ESPN:

"I haven't really put much thought into it. I put my whole focus into this season, it's my last year of the contract. I will sit back and talk to the family and see where my options are from there and go from there."

The Nets own Pierce's Bird Rights, allowing them to offer the veteran more money than any other team.

"I think I still have something in the tank I can give a team," he added. "Maybe one or two (years) at the most."

Pierce averaged career-lows with 13.5 points and 28 minutes per game in hopes of staying fresh for the postseason.

"Unfortunately, we wish we had put together a better record," Pierce said.

"But it's a brand new team, a lot of new players, got off to a slow start, a lot of injuries but we figured it out. Not where we want it to end today. Obviously the goal is to win a championship. But I am happy to go to war with the guys in here and the resolve they showed all year long."

Pierce changed teams for the first time in his NBA career this past offseason, and the prospective of a second change in as many years is in front of him.

"When I get a chance, sit back and really get my thinking hat on, I will figure out what's next," Pierce said. "We came up short on our goal."